How to Avoid a 9/11 Memorial Disaster

By

Michael J. Lewis

Updated Aug. 12, 2003 12:01 a.m. ET

The drawings are in, the judging begins. At last month's deadline, some 5,200 designs for the 9/11 memorial cascaded into the Lower Manhattan Development Corp., submitted by architects, artists and amateurs alike. The proposals are now being pared down by the jury -- a distinguished panel that includes Maya Lin, architect of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, and Vartan Gregorian, former head of the New York Public Library. They'll have their work cut out for them.